The Return of Sasuke Uchiha
by WhiteFang Uchiha
Summary: What if Sasuke didn't want revenge on the Hidden Leaf? What if he wanted to protect his home like his brother had? What if he returned in order to help his village and disrupt Madara's plans? What if he decided to let go of his past and forge a future? This is the story of how events would unfold if Sasuke came back to the Leaf after killing Itachi and hearing the truth.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a new fic that I'll be writing alongside my other story, Bring Me Hope. This is my take on what would happen if Sasuke returned to the Hidden Leaf after learning the truth about his brother. Enjoy!**

 **Sasuke**

"Karin! Jugo! Suigetsu! Take him alive!" I ordered. I watched as my team, known as Taka, advanced on the rapping Jinchuuriki of the Eight Tails, Killer Bee. Bee swung two of his swords, cutting Jugo and Suigetsu while Karin lay unconscious, undone by a single strike to the head.

I didn't enjoy watching my team suffer like this as they were oblivious to my hidden intentions, however, I just needed the three of them incapacitated so that I could explain the situation to Killer Bee, though he didn't have to try to kill them. Supposedly, the Eight Tails is the second strongest Tailed Beast, surpassed only by the Nine Tails, of course, which happened to be sealed inside my former best friend, Naruto Uzumaki. Of course, Naruto was nowhere near as strong as Killer Bee right now since Bee was completely in sync with his Tailed Beast. It seemed odd that I was thinking about this while we were in the middle of a fight, seeing as how there was an incredibly strong opponent in front of me.

Naruto and I had formed a bond, one so strong that he almost died trying to save me from Orochimaru, to bring me back to the Hidden Leaf. To be honest, I think he would've been ok with dying if it meant bringing me back to my senses. To this day I'm still relieved that I didn't kill him in our fight. If I had, I would've killed two of my brothers, Itachi and Naruto.

I snapped back to reality as Bee kicked Suigetsu right in the jaw. He kept spitting his rhymes out while kicking the collective asses of my team.

I probably needed a new team.

Though they were good hearted people, they weren't exactly the best at fighting, they were nowhere near as good as Team 7, as expected of course. Killer Bee finally finished off Jugo by whacking him with the hilt of his sword while Suigetsu looked ready to collapse from exhaustion. But then, Killer Bee rose one of his swords, ready to actually kill Suigetsu, which was definitely NOT part of my plan.

I acted quickly, drawing my own sword and deflecting all of Killer Bee's strikes.

"Thanks Sas-" Suigetsu began but I hit him right on the forehead with the hilt of my blade, silencing the cerulean-haired man's words.

"What the-" Killer Bee said, startled at my actions. "You interrupted my flow, yo! For that imma have to glow, yo!"

I sighed and shook my head.

His raps were so...bad.

It pained me to hear him, but antagonizing him wouldn't be the best move if I wanted him to hear me out. However, before I could speak, Killer Bee surrounded himself with a cloak of chakra, similar to the one Naruto had back in our fight at Final Valley.

"Wheeeeee!" He yelled before charging at me with an arm raised at blinding speed aimed at my chest. I activated my Mangekyou Sharingan and saw his movements quickly enough to avoid them. I ducked underneath and sidestepped in a split-second, avoiding the Jinchuuriki's fatal blow. "Whoa! No one's ever evaded my lariat other than my brother!" the man exclaimed without following up with a rhyme, thankfully.

"Bee," I called out, "I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk."

"Talk is weak! Let's see if I can keep up my hot streak!"

"That really doesn't make a whole lot of sense," I mumbled before clashing swords with him. He swung at me with his numerous swords, and I couldn't help but appreciate his swordsmanship, to use 8 blades with such efficiency at one time is impressive.

However, that's not enough to beat me.

I parried each of his swift strikes, predicting his movements with my Sharingan before backing away from him.

"Bee! Just listen will you? I'm not a part of the Akatsuki!" I called out, silently begging for the insufferable man to listen.

"But your cloak-" he began, ready to dish out another rhyme, but I wasn't about to let him.

"Goddamn it, I'm a spy for the Hidden Leaf!"

"Huh?"

"I'm posing as a member, you ignorant fuck!"

"Whoa, hey there, no need for name-calling!"

"Sorry…" I muttered, still a little aggravated as to why this man was so annoying. "Listen to me, Bee, the man who sent me is Madara Uchiha, he wants you because of the Eight-Tails, obviously. I'm telling you this so that you're cautious, the Akatsuki are relentless, and they won't stop until they have you, that's why they sent me."

"So you're just going to let me go? So I can continue my rapping flow?" I resisted the urge to smack myself on the forehead and forced my voice to stay calm.

"I know you can use your tails to pose as yourself, just give me a fake you and I can continue my spying on Madara, deal?"

"You drive a hard bargain, and I'm starving, deal!"

My left eye twitched slightly and I started to consider using my Amaterasu to kill Bee right here so that no other poor human being could hear his atrocious raps. One of his tails popped out from behind and he quickly detached a limb. He formed a hand sign and before me lay an unconscious clone of Bee, all that I needed.

"Thank you, Bee, remember to be careful," I said to him. He started rapping again but this time I just tuned his voice out. I summoned three shadow clones and had them carry the other three members of Taka, who were still unconscious. Killer Bee was still rapping but waved to me as I left, regardless. I nodded as a farewell to him before running full stride to the Mountain Graveyard, where Madara had me stay. I made my way inside the bone structure and proceeded to enter the cave where Madara was. I walked in with my shadow clones and team members as well as the fake Killer Bee slung over my back. I had formulated a plan on the way back for making my escape and returning to the Leaf, where Tsunade was awaiting my return.

I had met with her a couple of days after I learned the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre from Madara. I thought long and hard before reaching out to her and cutting a deal. She would pardon me and restore my status as a Hidden Leaf Shinobi once I had gathered enough information on Madara to figure out his plans. She actually laughed at the suggestion because she would've already pardoned me for the killing of two S-rank criminals, but I felt like I had to do more for my home.

So I told the masked man who claimed to be Madara that I wanted nothing more than to destroy the Leaf for what the village had done to my brother. I gave him one hell of a performance too, one good enough to convince the other three members of Taka as well. He told me about a week ago that I was to capture Killer Bee in order to collect it for the Gedo Statue, a huge monument with 9 eyes, each reserved for a Tailed Beast. I basically had figured out the main goal of his plan, 'Project Tsuki No Me'. He wanted to gather the Tailed Beasts to summon the Ten Tails, a creature that was chakra personified. Using it, he would cast a genjutsu using the moon, the Infinite Tsukuyomi. It sort of resembled Itachi's jutsu, but this one was magnified by the moon, and it would last forever, hence why it was referred to as Infinite.

I planned to inform Tsunade and the Leaf of this as soon as I got what I came back to the hideout for: Itachi's eyes. His last gift to me. I smiled to myself as my clones and I walked through the dark corridor which led to the hideout, even in death, Itachi was taking care of me. My smile soon faded at the thought of my deceased older brother, I had hated him for so long, but now, I missed him so much it pained me. He'd do anything for me, and he didn't want anything in return.

"Thinking about your brother?" A voice sounded ahead of me. Madara warped in front of me, eyeing the body of Killer Bee that was over my shoulder.

"Yeah," I answered.

"Well now we have the Eight Tails, once the Nine Tails is acquired, I can cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, then you can see your brother, your entire family, anyone you want," Madara said.

"Hn," I answered, handing him the body of Killer Bee before swiftly making my way to Taka's quarters. What he said was true. Under the guise of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, I could have my entire family back with me. All I had to do was go along with Madara's plan.

Yet, I didn't want this, I didn't want to cast the entire world under a genjutsu. Madara thinks he can create a world that is perfect for everyone, but there's no such thing as a perfect world. Life was never meant to give you everything you desired. That's why I didn't want to bring my family back to life, not even Itachi. It wasn't because I didn't miss them, it was because I had come to terms that they were gone. They were resting in peace, watching over me. I wasn't going to let the burden of my past hold me down any longer. I've been selfish, causing Team 7 so much pain because I couldn't let my revenge go. I wouldn't let them suffer anymore. Naruto almost died, Kakashi tried to use his past to set an example for me, and Sakura...my heart just wrenches whenever I think of everything I've done to the girl who only wanted what was best for me, all she wanted was for me to forget my revenge.

It was time I stopped living in the past.

It was time to return home.

I quickly laid down the unconscious bodies of my comrades and grabbed a jar that I kept near me at all times. The jar contained Itachi's eyes, the same eyes that would grant me an Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. I hated using Itachi to gain more power, and I wouldn't until it was necessary. Before I only gained power for vengeance, but this time, I would use my power to protect the Hidden Leaf from whatever Madara had in store, I refused to squander Itachi's sacrifice. His goal was now mine, and I intend to fulfill that goal.

I quickly removed my Akatsuki cloak and slipped on a black shirt with the sleeves cut off, pretty much a tank top designed for battle. I removed the purple rope that was custom for Orochimaru's followers and slipped on black camo pants. I sighed in pleasure, all these bad guys had the most uncomfortable clothing, it felt so nice to be able to wear a good, old, all-black, badass outfit that was tailored to my style. I quickly grabbed my sword and slipped the holster over my head and secured it onto my back.

Now this, this was all me.

Hopefully the Leaf Village would appreciate my style. I would be lying if I said that reuniting with Team 7 didn't excite me, I had missed them all in my absence. So I resolved not to waste any more time than I already had.

I was already about 3 years late.

I grabbed Itachi's eyes and glanced at my sleeping team with a hint of sadness in my eyes. I bid them a silent farewell and exited the room, making my way into the dark corridor. I activated my Sharingan and scanned the cave, searching for any signs of Madara or Zetsu, but I didn't see anyone else, it was just me. I silently walked through the dark atmosphere, remaining as quiet as possible while concealing my chakra, making sure that the other inhabitants of the Mountain Graveyard wouldn't notice me. I could see light at the end of the tunnel, I could see the exit, I could see freedom. However, I remained cautious, this was not the time to lose my cool and get caught, there was still a distance between me and freedom. I swiftly, yet, silently walked towards the exit, half-expecting Madara to warp in front of me and figure out what I was doing.

If he did, my excuse was training, if he noticed Itachi's eyes, then I'm fucking booking it. However, none of that happened, I just walked out and the sunlight's rays hit my face. I jumped towards the nearest tree and looked back at the hideout suspiciously, wondering if anyone had noticed my escape. It appeared that no one did, but I was still cautious, carefully moving through the forest and making my way to Konoha, my old home. This was it, I was getting my life back, after so many years of pain and hatred, I can live again. I smiled slightly as my feet carried me towards the village, as long as I kept my current pace, I should reach the village in a couple of hours, then I can report to Tsunade and be a part of Team 7 again.

I wondered how they'll react to me being back, seeing as how its been so long. Kakashi-sensei will probably smile and ruffle my hair like he used to, Naruto will probably demand a rematch from me, and Sakura...well, I don't know. Sakura's grown, I noticed that when I saw her at Orochimaru's hideout, she was beautiful, I couldn't deny that fact. As much as girls annoyed me with their clingy attitudes, Sakura was different. Back then, she used to be weak in battle, but she had a good heart, and always cared about me and Naruto. Now, well I haven't seen her in action, but over the years she must've grown a little stronger at least. I thought back to how she looked at Orochimaru's hideout, her hair had grown a little longer, her face had lost any excess baby fat and was now elegant. Her green eyes were still one of her best features, and her body had filled out with curves highlighting it.

I shook my head, what was I doing thinking about girls and stuff? Sure she was pretty and all, but right now wasn't the time to focus on girls and all of that stuff, there was still many threats looming about, and that should have my full attention. But the truth was, it didn't, not when the pink-haired girl from Team 7 was on my mind. The truth was, I thought about her more than anyone else while I was away.

 **Sakura**

I walked through the streets of Konoha, enjoying the beautiful day and savoring my off day. Training and helping out at the hospital kept me busy most of the time, but I enjoyed my work. However, I also loved my days off when I could relax. It kept me at peace, most of the time. I loved the daytime, seeing my friends, having a good time, it was great. Life was good. At least, that's what I told people. I told them I loved walking around and breathing fresh air, I told them I loved getting home at night and making myself some nice home-cooked food. I told them I loved sleeping in, because when I slept, I dreamed. I told them I loved my little apartment, where I could do whatever I wanted with no one watching me. People that I meant I was glad to be free of my parents' watchful eyes, people thought I meant everything that I told them.

It was all lies.

I liked walking around and doing my job as well as training, but that was the extent of the truth.

I hated my days off, because it gave me too much time to think, think about him. I hated going home and cooking because it would usually be just for myself. I didn't have to be alone, I was 17, and guys were starting to ask me on dates, but I rejected them all. Naruto had asked me out a couple times, but I denied him every time. He stopped after a bit because he knew who my heart belonged to.

When I told people I could do whatever I wanted in my apartment, they never assumed that I would spend most nights crying myself to sleep at the loss of the man I love. I didn't need an alarm to wake me, because my nightmares usually did the job just fine. It was always him leaving, my nightmares were always either about him leaving or seeing him dead at the hands of his older brother. Either way, they always haunted me and shook me to my core.

Yet, after I woke up screaming, I would get ready and prepare myself to lie to everyone.

Today was no different. I put on a fake smile as I greeted Ino and Hinata, who were talking inside the Yamanaka's flower shop.

"Forehead! What's up?"

"Nothing, Pig. Hey, Hinata."

"Hi, Sakura."

I joined their conversation about some local gossip, trying hard to forget about him.

"...so I was thinking-wait what the hell is that?"

Ino pointed to the sky and I followed her gaze, spotting a man falling to the ground. Some villagers stopped and gazed at the mysterious man before noticing that he was going to land right near them. They scattered and the man landed on his feet, glancing around, as if he was looking for something. I recognized his flowing black coat, I recognized the red clouds covering his jacket.

Akatsuki.

"Ino, Hinata, get the others!" They raced off, calling for the rest of us. I faced the man, noting how his eyes were purple and his face was...weird. It looked like he had multiple piercings on his face, which was odd to say the least. He had orange hair as well, making him a truly odd-looking creature. I didn't recognize the man from any of the bingo books Konoha had, maybe he was a new member of the Akatsuki? Nevertheless, he was in Konoha, looking for someone, I had to do something while the citizens got clear.

I charged at the mystery man with my right fist aimed right for his head. I concentrated my chakra onto my fist and swung as hard as I could, ready to break this man's skull into pieces. However, instead of contacting his head, my fist met some sort of strange barrier, which deflected my blow.

"What the-" I began, but the man raised his leg and attempted to kick me. I blocked his leg and jumped back, putting a distance between us. This guy had some sort of barrier protecting him from my hits, so how can I bypass them? I launched another chakra-filled punch at him, but was met with the same barrier. The man countered and kicked me in the stomach, launching me into a wall. I rolled away when he attempted to stomp on my head and leaped to my feet. I lifted my leg off of the ground and kicked him across the face, sending him a couple of yards back. I had connected, but how? Did he have a limit to how much abuse he could absorb? I didn't have enough time to come up with a solution because the man launched himself at me. I avoided his fists as he swung at me. I ducked underneath as his right hand sailed over my head and punched at his stomach with a chakra-fueled fist, but my hand met the same barrier as before. He kicked out and hit me into the flower shop.

My head hit the counter, causing my vision to go hazy for a second. When my vision cleared, I saw two little Academy students throw some shuriken at the man. He easily avoided them and turned his attention to the children. I leapt to my feet and punched the ground, causing the area around the man to fall apart. He fell into the crevice I created, but emerged only a second later, launching himself towards the students. I grabbed them both and threw them out of harm's away, but I had given the man an opening. That was all this man needed, because when I turned my head, he was standing over me with a metal rod in hand, ready to stab me with it.

"Sakura!" I heard a voice shout. Naruto jumped into action, grabbing the man and throwing him away from me. "Are you ok?" He asked as he knelt down and helped me up. I nodded and looked at him, noticing how odd he looked. His eyes had some weird horizontal lines in place of his pupils, and it looked like he put on orange eyeshadow or something.

"Naruto? Why do you look like...that?" "Its my Sage Mode, and I'm about to put it to good use!" I smirked and nodded, this was what he went and worked so hard to master with the toads. With his new power, Naruto and I could take this guy.

"I'm going to hit him with Rasengan, when he's distracted, hit him from behind," Naruto said. I nodded and waited for Naruto to start his attack. A few seconds later, he was charging at the man with a rasengan in his hand. I moved quickly, seeing the man activate the same barrier he had against me, however, he seemed to be struggling with the Rasengan, like it pained him to deflect it. I ran around and swung for the back of his head, connecting as my fist cracked his skull. He stumbled but swung back wildly, forcing me and Naruto to back off. The man seemed to be breathing heavily, and his skin started to become a brownish color, almost like wood.

"Naruto, keep hitting him with rasengans, I think your attacks have some sort of special effect on him, I'll go in first as a distraction, then you hit him after me."

"Yeah!" I charged my fist with chakra again, delivering a series of strikes to the man, who used his barrier to absorb them, unsurprisingly. However, I ducked midway through and Naruto leaped over me, hitting the man with another rasengan, making his skin go even more of a brownish color. "Naruto, if you can hit him with a Rasenshuriken, I think you can take him out. I'm not sure as to why, but you're attacks are hurting him, it might be because you're in Sage Mode."

"Ok, Sakura! Think you can send him underground?"

I smirked.

"With pleasure."

I charged my fist with chakra and punched the ground as hard as I could, causing the earth to move and shatter, just like before, only this time, the area that I affected was much larger. The man fell into the large cracks I made, stunned at my strength and trapped in a hole.

"True Wind Style! Rasenshuriken!" Naruto sent his attack right down at the man, who used his barrier to block it. It caused a minor explosion to sound. Once the attack dissipated, I looked and saw the man frozen and completely brown, wooden to be exact.

"My attacks turned him into...wood?"

"Guess so."

"Sweet!"

"Naruto, look!" I pointed at another part of the village, where the rest of the Konoha 11 seemed to be fighting 5 other men just like the one we fought. Tenten and Shikamaru were unconscious already, and the rest of us weren't faring too well. Ino tried her mind-transfer jutsu, but it had no effect on any of the 5 Akatsuki members. Instead, one of the men summoned a giant rhino that attacked her, effectively knocking her unconscious. Naruto jumped into action, still in Sage Mode, trying to help Neji and Lee, who were battling with one of the members. The giant rhino turned its attention to Hinata, who was staring at it, her pale eyes widening with fear as the monster charged at her. I leaped into action, landing in front of Hinata, who snapped out of her stupor.

"S-Sakura!"

"Keep it together, Hinata," I told her before catching the giant rhino's huge horn and flipping it over. I charged my fist with chakra and planted it into the rhino's exposed stomach. It screeched in agony before disappearing with a puff of smoke. I turned around and saw one of the men catch Kiba and Akamaru's Wolf Fang Over Fang and throw them aside like they were nothing. The man's arms transformed then, his hands morphing into missiles, like actual missiles. He fired one at Kiba and Akamaru, blasting them away and knocking them out of the battle. I saw the man Naruto, Neji, and Lee were fighting blast them away with some sort of gravitational force, sending them into a pile of rubble.

"No…" I thought, if Naruto couldn't get these guys, then we were screwed. I scanned the battlefield and saw more unconscious Shinobi laying on the ground, some buried under destroyed buildings. Kakashi and Tsunade lay next to each other, incapacitated. However, right next to them I saw another woman, who was wearing an Akatsuki cloak. She had purplish-blue hair and was unconscious and bleeding from a nasty gash on her head, probably from fighting my two teachers, so we wouldn't have to worry about her for now. Unfortunately, there were still 5 guys kicking the crap out of the Konoha 11 right in front of me. The man who had knocked away Naruto turned on me, and I saw the same purple eyes on him as the one I fought earlier with Naruto. It must be some new type of dojutsu, one I had never seen before. I watched as he moved with great speed to me, ready to strike me down, but I wouldn't be that easy. I swung a chakra-infused fist at him, barely missing before following up with a kick to the stomach, which he also avoided.

"Very good," He said before taking a step back and raising his arms. I prepared myself to defend against whatever he was doing, assuming that I could. That was a mistake. "Almighty Push!" He yelled before an enormous force emerged from his body and pushed back everyone, including me.

I landed and hit my head against the ground, clouding my vision and dazing me. I put my hand against my throbbing head and felt something wet, my blood. I quickly healed myself before moving to the other members of the Konoha 11. Hinata was knocked out with blood coming out of her mouth, probably a broken rib or two. I put my hands on her stomach and my chakra glowed green, healing her injuries, and returning her to a state of consciousness. I was about to move to heal Neji, but an earth-shaking roar filled the air, drawing every conscious human's attention to the source. It was Naruto, and he had changed. He was surrounded by an orange cloak of chakra, and his eyes turned red, the pupils becoming slits. His teeth grew into fangs and he roared again before glaring at the 5 men before him.

"Capture him," I heard the man who used Almighty Push say to the others. They converged on Naruto, but Naruto was ready. He attacked them ferociously, swinging his claws and using his tails to strangle the men, brutally abusing them. It filled me with hope, if Naruto could keep pummeling the men, then he could stop this invasion, he can stop the destruction!

"Come on, Naruto," I pleaded before getting back to healing the rest of us. I healed the head trauma Neji had suffered and healed the fracture in Shikamaru's leg. Unfortunately, doing that took a lot of chakra, healing broken bones took a lot out of me. I was almost out of chakra by the time I nursed Kiba and Akamaru back to health. I had managed to heal Ino as well, returning her to consciousness, but that was the extent of what I could do for now. Now it was all up to Naruto, who knocked back all the men who had attacked him, sending them to the ground.

"Did he do it?" Neji wondered aloud, as only one of the men remained standing. But then I saw him smirk, and that told me all I needed to know. All of the sudden, he clapped his hands together and a small ball rose into the air.

"Well, Naruto Uzumaki, I'm afraid this is as far as you go," the man said, "Planetary Devastation!" The ground started to fall apart and numerous buildings were uprooted, all of them flying towards the small ball in the air. I saw Naruto being pulled into the same ball that the ground was flying towards, powerless to escape.

"No," I whispered, he was going to take him. The man smirked again as the ground formed a small planetoid in the sky, but then his smirk faded into a look of confusion. I looked at the planetoid and saw it cracking apart, as if something on the inside was breaking free. It could only be one person doing all this damage.

"Holy crap its Naruto!" Ino gasped as an orange-black creature with 8 tails and some bones on his back burst from the planetoid and landed on the ground before letting out an ear-splitting roar. I sighed in relief as he assaulted the man, tearing through him and powering through his Almighty Pushes using his sheer power. The Tailed Beast was too much for this man to handle, there was no surviving this, he was done, and the other members of the Konoha 11 who were awake were probably thinking the same thing. Naruto punched the man into the ground before unleashing a beam of energy from his mouth straight onto the man, burrowing him further into the ground. He jumped off and landed a few yards in front of us, snarling at the 5 fallen men in front of them, as if he was daring them to get up. It had to be done now, there's no way anyone can survive an attack of that magnitude, it was just impossible.

But then I saw possibly the strangest thing I had ever seen. Some gate with a face covering the surface emerged from the ground, sort of like Orochimaru's Triple Rashomon. But this one wasn't as big, and the design was different, though I had no idea of what it could do. Then the gate opened, and immediately all 5 men were sucked inside the gate before it closed. A few moments later, all of them emerged without a scratch on their bodies, as if Naruto had done absolutely NOTHING to them. That's when I started trembling with fear, if these guys could heal that easily from an 8-tailed Naruto's attack, then what could we do against them? They had taken out the Hokage and any able-bodied Jonin, as well as most of us, there was nothing we could do at this point, but I wasn't giving up yet, not while Naruto was still in that form. If I could find out how to get rid of that gate that healed the men, then we stood a shot.

"Guys! Can you see who's controlling that gate?" I asked everyone around me.

"It has to be one of their abilities," Shikamaru deduced, "Neji, Hinata, use your Byakugan and see who's chakra flow is different from the rest."

The two Hyuuga's activated their eyes and scanned the men, who were standing there, waiting for Naruto to make a move.

"Him!" Neji exclaimed, pointing to a man with three spikes protruding out of each ear.

"Naruto!" I yelled, hoping he could comprehend what I would say to him, "Get him!" I pointed to the man Neji had said was controlling that gate thing. Naruto turned and roared at the man, which I took as confirmation as he knew who to aim for. He charged up his chakra and let loose an enormous blast of energy, directed straight for the man, who couldn't dodge the ferocious attack in time. He was obliterated completely, his body must've disintegrated from the sheer energy Naruto sent his way. The gate slowly crumbled and fell apart, meaning we had done it right.

"Yes!" I said while pumping my fist in the air. Neji smirked behind me and Shikamaru let out a sigh, but Hinata was quiet. She was gazing ahead, and I saw exactly what she was looking at. There was a great amount of smoke coming from in front of Naruto as a result from his attack, and at almost blinding speed, 4 figures jumped out of the smoke with rods in their hands. Before anyone could notice what happened, the 4 men stabbed Naruto simultaneously. Naruto roared loudly in agony, releasing one last beam of energy but hitting nothing. I watched in horror as his tails and chakra vanished, leaving a normal and powerless Naruto lying there, barely conscious. He coughed out blood and I saw his eyes roll back.

"Sorry guys," he muttered to us before closing his eyes.

"No!" I heard Hinata say from behind me.

She got up on wobbly feet, and the rest of us with her. We had one chance to save Naruto and the village, one shot.

Time to work.

 **All the characters are the same, there won't be on new ones or anything like that. Only change I made is to the age in that everyone will be 17 and Team Guy would be 18. Also the story will be told from mainly Sasuke and Sakura's perspectives, though I might write from Naruto or Kakashi's perspective a little. Hope y'all liked it and any feedback is appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sasuke**

* * *

When I saw smoke coming from where Konoha should be, I began to internally panic. Madara had never said anything about what the other Akatsuki members were going to do, so I had assumed that they would be preparing like Madara had said. I had forgotten that he still had to acquire the Nine-Tails, but who did he send? If it wasn't us, the only other members of the Akatsuki who were alive were Zetsu, who never really fought or anything, Kisame, who definitely couldn't do this much damage to the Leaf Village, or the other two.

It had to be them, Konan and Pain, the most powerful Akatsuki members other than Itachi.

"No…" I breathed out, I knew Pain had a Rinnegan, which was literally the most powerful dojutsu in existence, meaning he might already have his hands on Naruto and could've killed a lot of people. My eyes widened and I began to panic, what if he had killed Kakashi and Sakura, just to get into Naruto's head? I quickly bit my thumb and summoned Garuda, my hawk. "Keep this safe, I'll get it later," I told my summoning while handing Itachi's eyes to him. The huge hawk nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

I approached the village and saw no guards at the gate, they were probably trying to stop Pain and Konan. I jumped onto the nearest building and looked around. My home, Konoha, it was in shambles. Houses were destroyed, some had even collapsed onto its residents. A bunch of restaurants and stands were destroyed as well, their remains scattered over the streets. I spotted a toppled building on the ground that seemed familiar to me, and I almost immediately recognized that it was the place I lived after the Massacre, while I was on Team 7.

I spotted a picture frame lying on the ground and picked it up. It was our team photo, and the frame had been broken apart, but it was still clear as day. Kakashi was smiling through his mask while ruffling mine and Naruto's hair, looking happy as could be, Naruto and I were avoiding eye contact with the camera as well as each other just because we couldn't stand each other, Sakura was smiling happily just like Kakashi, just enjoying life.

This photo meant something to me, though I could never express it to my teammates and sensei. I did care for them back then, I tried my hardest to protect them, I was just never any good at conveying my emotions. Hell, I still wasn't any good at it. But being a part of that team did give me joy, even if I held a stoic face the entire time.

I gazed at the photo but snapped back to reality, realizing that this was no time to reminisce. I stuffed it into my pocket and leaped to where I sensed multiple chakras battling. Among them, I noticed Naruto's, but it was barely there. I noticed Sakura's as well, but even her chakra seemed to be faint, meaning she was almost out. I couldn't sense Kakashi's though, which worried me, so I sped to the field, feeling so much panic running through me.

I landed close to the battlefield and saw Naruto pinned to the ground by 4 rods, unconscious, almost dead. I saw Neji, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Sakura fighting 4 men, who seemed to just be toying with them. Pain had 6 paths if I remembered correctly, and from the looks of it, only these 4 were left. I saw Konan lying unmoving near an unconscious Kakashi and Tsunade, that was one less problem to deal with, however all of Konoha's top Shinobi had been taken out. The 4 remaining Paths of Pain strike Shikamaru and Neji back before one of them hit Hinata across the face with a rod, sending her flying into a nearby piece of rubble. All three of them were barely conscious and bleeding profusely, they were at the end of their lines.

Then I saw a truly horrific scene, the 4 Paths surrounding Sakura, who was protecting everyone else as they prepared to kill her. My heart stopped and an overwhelming feeling of desperation took over my body. This was not going to happen, I refuse to let other people hurt those around me, not anymore.

I was tired of this, tired of everyone around me dying and suffering, like I was some sort of disease, like anyone who cared about me was cursed with a cruel fate.

I summoned all the emotions I was feeling, all the rage, all the desperation, all the sadness, but most importantly, all of the denial. Denial of the fate that awaited everyone around me. Denial of the fate of the Hidden Leaf.

Fate wanted everyone dead and the Hidden Leaf.

Fate's taking a backseat now, I'm taking over.

I leaped into action, landing in the middle of them right when they brought their rods down to stab Sakura. I roared in agony, feeling a sudden, searing pain shoot through my body. I winced and closed my eyes as an incredible amount of power surrounded me. I could feel the energy around me as if it were tangible as it encompassed me, filling every cell in my body with both immense pain and power beyond belief.

I opened my eyes to see Sakura looking up at me with a shocked expression on her face. When I looked around, I was shocked to see a glowing purple rib cage surrounding me. The Paths of Pain looked even more shocked than the both of us, staring at me incredulously. I looked and saw that their rods had broken upon contacting this strange rib cage that I had managed to summon. Then, it hit me, this was an ability of my Mangekyou Sharingan, one that Itachi had used in his final fight against me.

I had just summoned my very own Susanoo.

"S-Sasuke?" I heard Sakura murmur, still looking at me as if she couldn't believe her eyes. I looked down at her with relief and a newfound fondness that I had never before experienced before turning my attention to the threat before me. I know that Itachi could summon an entire humanoid covered with armor, so I think I have to keep conjuring up more of my Susanoo until I can reach that state. I focused my chakra and summoned an arm of the Susanoo, which I used to grab the nearest Path of Pain I could see. The other three jumped back, still staring at me with a confused expression.

I knew that the Susanoo was made up of my chakra, it was like a warrior that fought for me, and by extension, was me. That meant that I could control this spectral being, as it was basically an extension of myself. Itachi had used it in our battle to seal away Orochimaru and relieve me of my curse mark. This newfound power of mine would be an extension of my will, and it was time to put it to good use.

I crushed the Path of Pain in my giant purple fist, literally crushed him. The path's body parts and rods fell to the ground in a heap, all dismembered and gross. I'm pretty sure it was the Animal Path, so there was no need to worry about summons anymore. I turned my attention to the other 3 paths and observed them. I recognized the leader of them, Pain himself, easily the most powerful Path. He had multiple rods on surrounding his nose while the others looked different. One had really long hair and had two rods on each cheek. The other had a rod covering the entirety of the tip of his nose, which looked really disturbing. Pain himself would obviously be the hardest to take down of the three, so taking out the other two Paths first would be the best strategy, but I would have to conserve my power. I'm pretty sure I can defeat Pain one-on-one, but only if I had enough chakra left after taking out the other two.

"Sakura, take a break and restore your chakra," I told the pinkette who was still at my side.

"But, Sasuke, what're you doing here?" She asked.

"I'll explain everything to you later, I promise, but right now, you need to get everyone you can to safety," I answered. She nodded and exited my Susanoo, leaving me to finish the fight. I turned my attention to the remaining Paths, who seemed to be sizing me up. I launched my attack on them, quickly using my Susanoo arm to sweep at them, but they were pretty fast. They avoided my attacks and retreated further back. I summoned another arm of the Susanoo giving me two arms and a rib cage before continuing my assault. I tried to grab at the Paths like before, but they were too quick for my Susanoo. One of the Paths took off his cloak, revealing a machine-like man, complete with razor blades and cannons, as well as missiles built into his arms.

These guys are weird.

The Path released a beam from one of its cannons, which struck my Susanoo, cracking the armor, but not breaking it. However, the pain that was already burning through me intensified, causing me to drop to one knee. I coughed out a couple drops of blood and wiped my mouth before standing again. The Susanoo was powerful, but it wasn't without its disadvantages.

I took a deep breath and focused my chakra as I summoned the chest and neck of my Susanoo increasing its power a little bit as the Path fired multiple missiles at me. The Susanoo proved to be durable, taking all the damage from the cannons and missiles yet still standing strong. I was already feeling great amounts of pain from summoning the spectral being, but I resolved to complete the Susanoo's body, so I summoned the head of the Susanoo, completing its basic form. My body started to become acclimated to the pain, meaning it wasn't as distracting as it was at first.

It was a completely purple being, with two horns on the tip of its head fit with glowing eyes and an evil grin, this thing looked like the devil and it kind of freaked me out yet satisfied me as well. I attacked again, using the Susanoo to punch the Path with all of the crazy weaponry a couple hundred feet away. However, Pain smirked at me for some reason. I glared back with my Mangekyou Sharingan activated, but why was he smirking when I had just launched one of his Paths away?

I realized too late that the third Path was nowhere to be seen. I turned around and saw the Path right behind me, grinning evilly before putting his hand onto my Susanoo. I felt no pain, but I knew what he was doing. The Path pulled and I saw my very soul being wrenched out from me in the form of chakra. I fell to my knees, feeling my body weaken and my Susanoo start to crumble. Susanoo protected me from most physical and ninjutsu attacks, but sucking out my own soul was more of an astral attack, one that my Susanoo couldn't defend against.

I felt myself grow weaker, I could feel the chakra drain from my body steadily, but I knew that I wasn't dying there, not a chance in hell. I closed my left eye and blood started pouring from it, a telltale sign of the technique Itachi had used against me. "Amaterasu!" I opened my eye and before the Path could move out of the way, black flames engulfed him. He kept stealing my soul and he almost got it out, but my Amaterasu burned his whole body all the way through and he fell moments later, dead. My energy returned to me as I gasped in shock at the cold feeling it caused in me. I had killed the Path and gotten my soul back, but I had lost a good bit of chakra doing so and Amaterasu hurt my eye whenever I did it, so I would have to defeat the remaining two Paths at a disadvantage.

"You will die here, Sasuke Uchiha," Pain told me before clapping his hands together. A sphere formed and flew high into the air before releasing a huge amount of energy and staying suspended in midair. The ground started to break around me and I felt myself being sucked towards the sphere.

"What the hell is this?" I wondered, analyzing land mass that began to form around the small sphere Pain had summoned. The small sphere was key here, the one Pain had formed. If the sphere was the center of everything and I could destroy it, then there would be no gravitational pull attracting any mass towards it and this technique would be rendered useless. At least, that's what I hope will happen.

"Chidori!" Lightning filled my left palm and began to make a chirping sound like that of a bird. I raised my hand and pointed it at the sphere Pain had created and changed my chakra flow. "Chidori Sharp Spear!" A long spear made of my lightning chakra formed in my hand. I stabbed it through the center of the sphere. It began to show signs of falling apart, but it was still pulling me towards it. I hit it with one more burst of lightning, shockwaving it into almost exploding. However, it was still intact, so I used another Chidori Sharp Spear, except this time I used Amaterasu at the same time. The combined power of the jutsus caused the sphere to finally fall apart as the pieces of earth fell to the ground, along with me.

While soaring to the ground, my view of Pain was obscured because of the pieces of earth falling with me, but I could make out a blue glowing light, one that I recognized. The other Path of Pain fired a large beam at me, destroying everything in front of me. It might've hit me if not for Susanoo. The skeleton took the full impact and cracked slightly, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that I was running low on chakra, mostly because the Path that tried sucking out my soul had taken a lot of it. I landed on my feet and immediately ran towards the Path that fired at me. I used Susano'o to deflect another beam shot at me before dodging a couple of missiles fired at me.

"Chidori!" My left hand immediately lit up with sparkling blue chakra and I advanced towards the Path while deactivating Susanoo to conserve chakra. I avoided another barrage of missiles aimed at me before ducking underneath to avoid the spinning blade that the path tried to tag me with. The Path tried to grab me with one of its 6 arms, but I swiftly removed them with one swing of my sword. I raised my hand and slashed Chidori right across the Path's neck, removing his head from his body. He fell to the ground, motionless, leaving only Pain. "Chidori Senbon!" I fired off multiple needles made of lightning chakra at Pain, but he countered.

"Almighty Push!" He yelled out as his jutsu stopped my Senbon.

"Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!" I sent a huge fireball his way, but he countered it again with the same jutsu.

"Almighty Push!" His manipulation of gravity was powerful, and his reaction time was also a great strength of his.

"Fire Style! Majestic Destroyer Flame!" I spewed a massive amount of fire, taller than Konoha's tallest building, and wide enough to canvas a house. Yet, as powerful as my stream of fire was, it couldn't get past Pain's Almighty Push. I was panting now, my chakra was depleting and Pain was proving difficult to take down, at this rate he would outlast me. But I had a plan, similar to the one I had used against Itachi, though it would require me to wait a little.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you are a formidable foe, but what lengths will you go to in order to win?"

"The hell are you talking about?" I spat at him, why was he concerned about the lengths I would go to in order to win? All of the sudden, Pain made his way to an unconscious Rock Lee, Neji, and Tenten, a rod in his hand.

"This is what I'm talking about," he said.

I moved as fast as I could, covering the small distance between us in less than a second and catching the rod Pain was about to bring down upon Lee's head in order to kill him. But it was Pain's plan for me to do that, because I was in range.

"Almighty Push!" He yelled, throwing me and Guy's team back. The only difference was, those three landed harmlessly, while I landed on a fallen building with a rogue piece of rebar jutting out. It pierced my stomach, drawing blood. I gasped in pain as I tried to remove it from me, but it was stuck well.

"Oh, Sasuke, how unfortunate," Pain taunted before stepping on me. I grunted in pain while clawing at his foot to try and get it off of me, but it was futile, I didn't know what else to do, I was relying on the plan I had set in motion but I couldn't fulfill it while Pain was stepping on me and a piece of rebar was through my stomach, causing me to lose blood quickly. I had an idea, a dangerous one that could get me killed, but it was an idea, regardless.

I grabbed Pain's foot and gave him a bloody smirk. His eyes widened and he tried to free himself, but I broke his leg, effectively holding him in place. The pain I caused him by breaking his leg gave me the opening I needed.

"Chidori Stream!" Electricity pulsed through me and shocked Pain, whose foot was still held in place by my hands. He roared in pain (oh the irony) and desperately tried to free himself. I lifted my leg up and put as much effort into kicking him as I could. I sent him flying back and turned my attention to the steel pipe protruding from my body. I balanced my palms and my feet on the ground before putting all of my strength into lifting myself up and off the rebar. It hurt like hell, and I grunted in pain throughout the whole process, but it worked.

I was still losing blood though, and the medics were still busy getting everyone else out of harm's way and healing others so I did the only thing I could to keep my blood from escaping my body. I used Chidori, right on my own open wound.

I roared in pain, but kept my hand there. I was in so much pain that I began to writhe in agony, but the blood flow had stopped, and my wound had been cauterized and cleaned of any bacteria from the rebar thanks to the heat Chidori had generated.

My whole body ached, and I basically had no chakra left, but my next jutsu wouldn't require any chakra. I leaped to the highest point I could find, which happened to be a half-collapsed building. I watched Pain get to his feet while Sakura, Hinata, Neji, and Shikamaru cleared the area of the rest of the Konoha 11, including Naruto, who was bleeding profusely from his wounds.

I had to buy a little more time so that they could get even further away, so I unsheathed my sword and threw it right at Pain. He couldn't dodge it in time thanks to his broken limb, so he used Almighty Push, exactly what I was hoping for. Once he blasted my sword away, I launched myself right at him and kicked him right on his chin, sending straight up. I jumped and met him in midair, backhanding him to the ground and finishing with a well-placed kick right to the midsection as the orange-haired man hit the ground.

The good old Lion's Barrage, the move I used to win my match in the Chunin Exam Preliminaries. Even now it was a useful technique against an enemy of Pain's caliber. He was incredibly powerful, I had to admit. To take on the entire Leaf village without breaking a sweat deserves a little commendation. Still, the Village did manage to take out two Paths and Konan, so they made my job easier. I should've ended this fight sooner, though, but I had lost a lot of chakra when my soul was literally removed from my body, otherwise I would've had plenty of chakra right now and Pain would've never gotten the drop on me. I shouldn't have dropped my guard, that was a careless mistake on my part.

I leaped away from Pain before he could use an Almighty Push on me and landed on the same half-collapsed building as before. I turned my attention to the skies when a few droplets of rain began to fall. The clouds were gray, and the few droplets of rain soon turned into a steady drizzle. I trained my eyes on Pain, watching as he paid no heed to the rain, merely shrugging it off and glaring at me. I smirked in satisfaction as everyone had cleared the area, leaving Pain, a bunch of destruction, and me standing on top of a collapsed tower. I needed the highest point for this to work, and that's exactly what I had.

It was from the heat my Majestic Destroyer Flame and Amaterasu had created, that's why the clouds formed and the rain began to fall. Lightning would appear in time. I had done it against Itachi, this same jutsu, and it had almost killed him. But with Pain it would be different, I knew it would, because he wasn't Itachi, he wasn't going to dodge this. However, the weather was taking a little bit of time, enough so that Pain could clap his hands together and form another one of those spheres. It would be a race against the clock that I wasn't sure I could win since I was at the mercy of the weather.

My mind started racing to formulate a plan for this. I knew there was a way to counter this without chakra, I just had to find out what that counter was. However, right when I had an idea, a huge chunk of a building flew towards Pain, who had to switch jutsus in order to keep from being squashed like an ant.

I guess that's one way to counter it.

I looked to the direction of where the debris came from and was shocked to see Sakura there. Since when can she can do that?

Thunder boomed from the sky, and my look of confusion turned calm, it was time. Pain stared up at me, confused at the relaxed expression on my face.

"What're you planning?" He called out.

I simply raised my hand and caught the first bolt of lightning that the clouds produced, taming it in my hand.

"Your death," I told him, and watched as his expression grew from one of confusion to shock at the sight of lightning in my hand. And when a huge dragon-like creature made out of lightning emerged from the sky and roared, his expression went to fear. I beckoned the lightning downward with a single movement of my arm. "Kirin will be the last thing you see," I whispered. The lightning came down, striking so fast that Pain didn't even know it. It came down with such ferocity that the entire surrounding area was demolished, disintegrating everything in one fell swoop. Thankfully, everyone had made it outside of the blast radius, so the only casualties would be Pain and his plan. The dust cleared, and strangely, everything was quiet, peaceful, almost, as if there was no attack in the first place. I jumped down and stood there, gazing down at the destroyed Akatsuki cloaks that lay before me in tatters, as if it was foreshadowing future events.

I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and fell to my knees, panting and completely worn out from the battle.

"Sasuke!" I turned and saw the entirety of the Konoha 11 staring at me, completely dumbfounded. Even Naruto was staring incredulously, as if I were a ghost. I got up to address them, but my wound from earlier began acting up again. Cauterizing it with Chidori wasn't enough to keep it contained for the long-term. I coughed up blood and my eyes began to ache, the aftereffects of using the Mangekyou Sharingan for the first time, I guess. For the first time activating it, I think I did pretty well, all things considered.

"Are you ok?!" Naruto half-yelled while leaning on Kiba, who was holding him up. Good to know that his voice was still as obnoxious as ever.

"I'm fine," I muttered before spitting out some more blood.

"You need medical attention," Shikamaru said.

"He's right, that's a nasty wound you suffered," Neji observed. I nodded and let Shino take my arm and sling it over his shoulder while supporting my weight. I coughed again, spitting out more blood, and I could feel my consciousness slipping away.

"Don't, I have a ride," I told Shino, taking my arm away. I took some of the blood from my stomach and summoned Garuda, who saw my condition and immediately understood what to do.

"Woah, since when can you summon a giant hawk," Naruto wondered, staring admirably at Garuda as he flew away and to the hospital. I lost consciousness shortly after the hawk took off.

 **Sakura**

* * *

"So, what just happened?" Neji asked as we stood there, wondering why Sasuke had just saved the Leaf after willfully leaving it years ago.

"Is he back for good?" Hinata wondered aloud, already asking the question on all of our minds.

"I don't know, I didn't know if him or his brother were still alive after we went to the Uchiha hideout," Shikamaru said.

"Well now he's back, so that's a good thing. He saved the village and Naruto, not to mention he got even hotter," Ino commented dreamily, staring off into space thinking about the man in question. All the while, I stayed quiet, because I didn't know what to make of this entire situation. I wanted him to be back more than anything, of course, but it all seemed so...farfetched.

He appears without warning and saves the village, but what happened to everything about his revenge? I saw the destruction at the Uchiha Hideout after him and Itachi had fought, so does that mean Itachi's dead? Does it mean he's done with his vengeance? All these questions swirled around in my head, overloading my brain with thoughts and various scenarios. I came back to reality, when I saw a villager stagger out from inside a building, realizing that first, we would have to deal with the aftermath of this attack. A good chunk of the village had been completely torn apart, and the death toll would probably reach the hundreds, that was how catastrophic this attack was. As a medic, I would probably have to be in the hospital around the clock, healing combatants and injured civilians. We were so caught up with Sasuke coming back and saving the village that we had forgotten about the aftermath, of how we would recover from this whole ordeal.

"We should start getting people to the hospital," I told our group, who agreed and began to use their remaining energy to get some of the injured Shinobi and civilians to the hospital, where there were hopefully enough medics to do the job. I spotted Kakashi-sensei staggering to his feet and reaching down to grab the unconscious Hokage next to him. I was overwhelmed with relief when I saw my two teachers had survived the attack and immediately went over to help them out.

"Sensei?" I approached Kakashi-sensei and observed his condition to see if he needed immediate treatment or not.

"I'm fine Sakura, I can summon my hounds to take me to the hospital, you heal Lord Fifth."

"I don't think I have enough chakra for that."

"Then take her to the hospital, she's more in need of treatment than I am. I'll take Shizune." I nodded and lifted Lady Tsunade's body off the ground before carrying her in the direction of the village hospital. I could see the full amount of destruction Pain had inflicted onto the Hidden Leaf while carrying my mentor, it truly haunted me.

"Sakura, what exactly happened? Did you and Naruto defeat Pain?" Kakashi-sensei asked me. I forgot that he was unconscious the whole time, so he didn't even see what had happpened.

"No, it wasn't us."

"Really? Who saved us then?"

"It was...Sasuke," I told him.

"What?"

"Sasuke killed Pain."

"You mean, he's back?"

"Yeah, he left for the hospital on his giant hawk a few minutes ago."

"Ok, I'm not sure if you're playing an elaborate prank on me or not, but I'll see it when I believe it."

"What? Why would you think I'm lying?"

"Well, to be honest, I didn't think Sasuke would ever come back to the village."

"Why, sensei?"

"I didn't think he could face us."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean that Sasuke doesn't even consider himself worthy of living. He thinks of himself as less than human because of what happened to his clan and his inability to do anything."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I could see it in his eyes. He had given up on happiness at such a young age, he knew that no matter how strong he was, he would always be an incomplete person. I saw it in his eyes, Sakura. I only...I only..." He trailed off as we approached the hospital.

"Sensei?"

"I should've realized it sooner. I should've recognized it and helped him more. Only when I arrived at the Final Valley did I realize that he was crying out for help everytime he looked at me. He was silently begging me to tell him what to do, and I didn't realize it. I failed him as a mentor, it's all my fault that this happened."

"That's not-" I began.

"Don't!" Kakashi-sensei yelled, slamming his fist onto the side of the wall of a nearby building. We walked in silence for a couple of minutes and entered the hospital, which was crowded, as expected. A couple of nearby nurses took Tsunade and Shizune from us almost immediately.

"Sakura, you're needed upstairs," one of them told me before scurrying off. Kakashi-sensei nodded to me and exited the hospital to gather more wounded. I made my way upstairs, reflecting back on how Sasuke came back.

If Sasuke hadn't shown up, well I would've been dead because he saved me and there probably would've been even more carnage. He had fought with such tenacity and ferociousness, I saw him endure so much to protect the village against Pain after hearing him denounce it only a short time back at Orochimaru's hideout. He had changed, his eyes were different, not just his Sharingan. His Sharingan had an odd looking pattern residing in them, something like a kaleidoscope, probably the Mangekyou like Kakashi-sensei. Yet, his regular eyes struck me much more than his Sharingan.

They were still onyx, yet they held a new light that I had never seen in hm before. It was indescribable, but Sasuke seemed a lot different, way different than the person Kakashi-sensei had just described. He seemed a lot stronger than before, that was for sure. Probably had to do with his new Sharingan, that must've been what gave him the power to use that purple demon-like warrior, the one he used to save me.

"Sasuke…" I breathed silently as I went to help injured civilians and ninjas.

I had to forget about him for now because I had to focus on my job, but it was hard to do that.

I wanted to hear it from him, I needed to hear from him that he was back.


End file.
